1. Field of Invention
The field of the invention is shipping containers, more particularly, containers having a pallet feature combined therewith.
According to American National Standard "Pallet Definitions and Terminology", ANSI MH1.1.2-1978, published by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the pallet container (or container pallet) of the present invention may in some embodiments also be referred to as a "single deck pallet with truck openings", or as a "non-reversible flush deck with four way entry" pallet, or, when using load-conforming inserts, also as a "special purpose pallet" but, especially when four pallet members and two end members are employed to provide a six-sided shipping container, it is more precisely referred to according to the standard, as a "pallet container" or "container pallet".
2. Prior Art
Numerous pallets of innumerable types, sizes, and configurations have been known in the art. However, few are what can properly be referred to, according to the standard, as a "pallet container" or "container pallet", and none of the pallets known to be available in the prior art have the advantages and features of the pallet container of the present invention.
Searches conducted in USPTO Classes 206, Subclasses 316, 320, 386, 389, 453, 577, 592, 593, 600, and 621, and in Class 217, Subclasses 12R and 69, and in Class 220, Subclasses 1.5 and 4F, as well as in Class 108, Subclasses 51.1, 55.1, 55.3, 56.1, 56.3, and 901, turned up only a few patents on shipping pallets or containers which can properly be referred to as "pallet containers". These are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 3,477,631 Dunlap et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,614,277 Fourie et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,776,435 Smith, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,965 Yarbrough. Related patents U.S. Pat. No. 4,730,732 to Wagonseller and U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,463 to Roellchen also had some relevance. However, none of these patents disclose a pallet with a design feature which allows the pallet to be transformed into a container, and Wagonseller and Roellchen disclose only roll and cylindrical object-supporting devices for use in supporting shaped articles, but not particularly for use in close compatibility with a shipping container, much less a pallet container. Moreover, none of the patents turned up in the search disclosed the type of pallet container provided according to the present invention or any of numerous significant advantageous features thereof.